Word Lens

Word Lens
Original author(s)Otavio Good
Developer(s)Otavio Good, John DeWeese, Maia Good, Bryan Lin, Eric Park
Initial releaseDecember 16, 2010 (2010-12-16)
Final release
2.2.3 / April 18, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-04-18)
Written inC++, Objective-C, C#, ARM Assembly, Java
Operating systemApple iOS 6.1+, Android 2.3.3+
PlatformiPhone 3GS+, iPod Touch 4+, iPad 2+, Android phones, Google Glass
Size43.3 MB
Available inEnglish ↔ Spanish,
English ↔ French,
English ↔ Italian,
English ↔ German,
English ↔ Portuguese,
English ↔ Russian
TypeTranslation software
LicenseProprietary
Websitehttp://questvisual.com

Word Lens was an augmented reality translation application from Quest Visual.[1] Word Lens used the built-in cameras on smartphones and similar devices to quickly scan and identify foreign text (such as that found in a sign or a menu), and then translated and displayed the words in another language on the device's display. The words were displayed in the original context on the original background, and the translation was performed in real-time without a connection to the internet. For example, using the viewfinder of a camera to show a shop sign on a smartphone's display would result in a real-time image of the shop sign being displayed, but the words shown on the sign would be the translated words instead of the original foreign words.

Until early 2015, the application was available for the Apple's iPhone, iPod, and iPad,[2] as well as for a selection of Android smartphones.[3] The application was free on Apple's iTunes, but an in-app purchase was necessary to enable translation capabilities.[2] On Google Play, there were both the free demo and the full translation-enabled versions of the application.[3] At Google's unveiling of its Glass Development Kit in November 2013, translation capabilities of Word Lens were also demonstrated on Google Glass.[4][5][6][7] According to the January 2014 New York Times article, Word Lens was free for Google Glass.[8]

Google acquired Quest Visual on May 16, 2014 in order to incorporate Word Lens into its Google Translate service.[9][10][11] As a result, all Word Lens language packs were available free of charge until January 2015.[10][11][12][13][14] The details of the acquisition have not been released.[9][10][11][12] Word Lens feature was incorporated into the Google Translate app and released on January 14, 2015.[15][16][17][18]

  1. ^ Armstrong, Natalie (April 19, 2011). "Word Lens app developer builds on social media buzz". Reuters.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference iTunes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GooglePlay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Gannes, Liz (November 19, 2013). "Next Google Glass Tricks Include Translating the World From Your Eyes". All Things Digital.
  5. ^ Honan, Mat (November 19, 2013). "Google's New Tools Show How Deep Glass Will Embed in Our Lives". Wired: Gadget Lab.
  6. ^ Rosenblatt, Seth (November 19, 2013). "Google Glass throws open its doors to developers". CNET.
  7. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (November 24, 2013). "Glass Just Got Way More Interesting". TechCrunch.
  8. ^ Rosenbloom, Stephanie (January 23, 2014). "Google Tools for Globetrotters". The New York Times: Travel.
  9. ^ a b Etherington, Darrell (May 16, 2014). "Google Has Acquired Quest Visual, The Maker Of Camera-Based Translation App Word Lens". TechCrunch.
  10. ^ a b c Rosenblatt, Seth (May 16, 2014). "Google buys Word Lens maker to boost Translate". CNET.
  11. ^ a b c Hall, Zac (May 16, 2014). "Google acquires Word Lens app recently featured in Apple's iPhone ad "Powerful"". 9to5Mac.
  12. ^ a b Winkler, Rolfe (May 16, 2014). "Google Tries Another Reality With Quest Visual Purchase". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. ^ Tschorn, Adam (May 22, 2014). "Say what? Word Lens translation app is easy and free (for now)". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ^ "Quest Visual is joining Google!". questvisual.com. 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  15. ^ Turovsky, Barak (January 14, 2015). "Hallo, hola, olá to the new, more powerful Google Translate app". Google: Official Blog. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  16. ^ Dougherty, Conor (January 14, 2015). "Google Translate App Gets an Upgrade". The New York Times: Bits. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  17. ^ Rosenbloom, Stephanie (January 14, 2015). "Updates for Google Translate (Just Hold Up Your Phone)". The New York Times: In Transit. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  18. ^ Ulanoff, Lance (January 15, 2015). "Hands on with Google Translate: A mix of awesome and OK". Mashable. Retrieved January 18, 2015.